The Rural Voice, 2002-12, Page 53Ag News
Grey group wins appeal of OMB water ruling
A group of residents in Grey
County has won an important victory
in a lengthy battle to protect their
groundwater. The ruling from the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice,
released November 21, affirmed
municipal authority over the use of
water, and clarifies that the Ministry
of the Environment does not have full
control over how water is used in the
province.
"This a significant victory for
groundwater protection that puts
public interest ahead of profit," said
Burkhard Mausberg, Executive
Director of Environmental Defence
Canada, a national environmental
organization supporting the local
group's efforts.
Artemesia Waters Ltd., a large
water bottling company, wants to
build a water storage plant on
agricultural land in Artemesia
Township (now the municipality of
Grey Highlands), south of Owen
Sound. The plant would allow almost
500,000 litres of water per day to be
taken from the area, putting at risk a
nearby provincially significant
wetland and a fish stream, argued
Grey Association for Better Planning.
The local official plan and zoning by-
law do not allow the land to be used
for commercial water taking, storage
or loading.
Despite the local zoning by-law,
the Ministry of the Environment gave
the company permission in 1999 to
take groundwater, up to 176 million
litres per year. The following year,
Artemesia Waters asked the County
and Township to change its by-law to
allow the company to extract and
load water onto transport trucks. The
company's request was turned down,
and it appealed to the Ontario
Municipal Board which eventually
ruled in Artemesia Waters' favour.
GABP, appealed the Ontario
Municipal Board decision to
Divisional Court at the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice, arguing the
Board failed to consider water taking
as a land use in making its decision.
The court agreed, stating: "In
deciding that the taking of water was
not a use of land and in confining the
subsequent hearing to issues relating
to the storage and loading of water,
the Board was refusing to consider an
essential, if not the most essential,
aspect of the appeal before it."
The court has ordered the Ontario
Municipal Board to carry out a new
hearing that will look at the taking of
groundwater as a land use.
"It's a great decision that will help
municipalities and groups like ours
across Ontario preserve their water,"
said Peggy Hutchison, spokesperson
for the GABP. "This is also a victory
for citizens groups working alongside
their municipalities."
"This ruling clarifies the way the
Ontario Municipal Board should be
dealing with environmental issues
even where other governments have
made decisions," said Rodney
Northey, Birchall Northey, legal
counsel for the group.0
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DECEMBER 2002 49